


Hunting The Wolf

by orphan_account



Category: Almost Human, Star Trek
Genre: Crossover, Starfleet Academy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-02
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-28 05:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John wakes up to a new world</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking Up

The light was unnervingly blinding, filling his entire vision. He closed his eyes again, the orange afterglow tattooing the inside of his eyelids. He tried to lift his arm to shield his eyes, but it continued to lay limply at his side. His whole body felt weak. He turned his head to the side and opened his eyes again, blinking rapidly. The sterile white room slowly came into focus. A hospital? Why the hell was he in a hospital? He scanned his brain, trying to recall his last memories. Nothing.

He heard a door slide open and footsteps approaching his bed. He warily turned his head in the direction of the sound, and was greeted by a bright smile and pale blue eyes. He couldn't help but smile back at Dorian. Damn, was that smile infectious.

"It's great to see you're awake." Dorian sat at a chair beside his bed. "I brought you a treat."

John noticed that Dorian had brought a white paper bag with him. Dorian opened it with a soft crinkle and pulled out a raspberry donut covered in powdered sugar. John neither loved nor hated raspberry donuts, but they were Dorian's favorite. Dorian couldn't taste, of course, but he had admitted to John that the color and texture was beautiful, and that he bet they tasted the way a viola sounded. To John, they were just overly sweet indigestion waiting to happen. John weakly shook his head when Dorian held it out to him.

"I'm not really hungry."

Dorian put the pastry back in the bag and sat it on the small table beside him. He folded his hands in his lap and looked at John happily. John scowled at him. Dorian was usually in a good mood, but today he was extra chipper.

"What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem. The opposite, in fact."

John rolled his eyes. He didn't understand how anyone, even an android, could always be so happy. He fumbled around for the button to bring his bed into an upright position, and was mildly relieved when Dorian brushed his hand away and pressed the button for him. He felt really tired, and every movement seemed sluggish and draining. John tried again to remember what exactly had put him in the hospital, this time with more fruitful results.

He recalled going to the house of the infamous crime lord Sven Verbinski with a search warrant that had taken them months to finally get. Hearing gunshots from inside, Dorian had kicked the door in. They had searched the silent house, muscles tense, adrenaline pumping, eventually coming across the body of Verbinski's wife in the hallway. All of it was coming back now. Busting down the door of Verbinski's study, guns at the ready. Verbinski had fired shots at them as they came through the door. One hit Dorian squarely in the chest with a dull _chink_. John had quickly taken refuge behind the giant oak desk in the room. Verbinski was under the influence of something, his eyes bloodshot and his clothing rumpled and askew. He stood boldly by the window, not attempting to take cover. It was obvious that he wasn't planning on coming out of this ordeal alive. John had brought his head over the desk to take aim and wound Verbinski when a bullet smacked him in the shoulder. He remembered how odd it was, waiting for the accompanying blast of pain, but instead only feeling a numb coldness spreading down his arm and side.

Poison. That bastard Verbinski had a thing for poison. Each of the people that had been found dead by Verbinski's people had been poisoned with something that none of the police force had been able to identify.

"The bullet." John said. "The bullet was coated in poison, wasn't it?"

Dorian nodded. "Verbinski's very own concoction. Kills a man in ten minutes."

John thought back to all of the searching forensics had done on Verbinski's poison. A concoction of Verbinski's sick mind, it had no cure and condemned the recipient to a quick yet agonizing end. Forensics, for whatever reason, had code named the damnable poison Xena, the hell if John knew why. 

"So then why am I still here? I thought there wasn't a cure."

Dorian's eyes shined merrily as he recounted the events after John went down. "Backup arrived three minutes after you went down. I shot Verbinski's knee and cuffed him. I'm not gonna lie, he was scaring me. Laughing and smiling like he was insane, which I guess he probably was. He had taken some Xena before all the shooting. Died a coward's death, if you ask me."

John motioned weakly with his hand for Dorian to get to the part with what the hell happened to him. Dorian got to the point.

"Everyone was panicking. We all knew what was happening, and what was bound to happen in the next seven minutes or so." Dorian seemed calm as he retold the events, but his eyes showed how scared he had been. "I knew I had to do something. So I stopped your heart."

John blinked. "I'm sorry, what now?"

Dorian shrugged. "I stopped your heart. I knew that the poison couldn't move through you if your blood wasn't pumping. It bought me a little bit of time."

Dorian looked defiantly at John, as if daring him to say he had made a wrong decision. John obviously couldn't say much, considering he was alive against all odds. He nodded his head, urging Dorian to continue. Dorian smiled.

"Well, the rest can be summed up in one word. Cryonics."

John laughed. "You made me into a popsicle?"

Dorian shrugged again. "I guess so."

"That's brilliant."

They both grinned at each other.

"So, you froze me until you could find a cure?"

Dorian nodded.

John looked around. "So how long was I out? A few months?"

"Two hundred and seventeen."

"Months?"

"Years."

It took John well over a minute to process what Dorian had said. Dorian watched him silently, gauging John's reaction.

John didn't know _how_  to react. Everything he had known had just vanished in that one word. He looked to Dorian to see if it was some sort of joke, but Dorian never was good at telling jokes. Everyone he had known would be long dead. The world would have went through thousands of gradual changes that would make it something completely unfamiliar to him. A knot of fear coiled around him. The world he had known was gone, and he would have to face it alone.

Not alone. He had Dorian. Dorian, who still had his same goofy grin and love of sugary raspberry donuts. Even though he could hardly move, he reached over and grabbed Dorian's hand, squeezing it with all the strength he had. Dorian looked at him with understanding eyes.

John released Dorian's hand and closed his eyes. "So... what do we do now?"

"Well, it's actually kind of great that you asked me that."

John opened his eyes and gave Dorian a hard look. "Why?"

Dorian beamed at him. "I've got a job working undercover. And The Federation Council said that when you woke up, they'd look into giving you a job too!"

John felt sleepy. All the excitement had really drained him.

Dorian stood up. "You've got to rest. But I'll be back as soon as my classes are over."

John was eager to go to sleep, but the conversation was just too interesting. "What classes? Are you in some sort of school?"

Dorian smiled brightly and adjusted his shirt, which John hadn't noticed before. Black, long sleeved, matching pants. A silver emblem was on the breast, triangular, a bit like an "A".

"I'm a teacher. Quantum Mechanics." Dorian was obviously pleased.

John gave him a smile. "I'm not gonna lie, that's pretty awesome."

Dorian smiled impossibly wider. "I know. And if things work out, you'll be part of Starfleet too!"

Dorian left with those words, leaving John to wonder what the hell Starfleet was. And why was Dorian working undercover? He would have to fill John in on the details. But as for now, all he wanted to do was sleep.

And that's just what he did.


	2. Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John learns about his new assignment.

Dorian had insisted on him staying in the hospital for a longer period of time, but John was stubborn, and the fact that he had been frozen for over two hundred years was a pretty good argument. No more resting, no more staying idle. John wanted to see everything.

So two days after John woke up, he was discharged and the two of them hit the streets. Dorian talked nonstop the whole time, filling him in on everything he had missed. Presidents, wars, the first arrival of alien life. John would have thought Dorian had blown a circuit if it weren't for the people they passed. A light blue woman with delicately twitching antennas and snow white hair. An extremely damp looking man who kept two eyes on something that looked a lot like a larvae that was currently wailing and holding tight to his shoulder, and two more eyes on the people he was weaving through. John had to try very hard not to look at the various lifeforms they walked by. When John's feet became weary they stopped at a small cafe. They were served by a green skinned girl, her hip cocked to the side while she smacked gum, taking their order with an indifferent tone. Seemed that no matter what day and age, some things never did change.

When a hot coffee was in front of John and an energy cell patch was on Dorian's forearm, John decided it was time to be briefed on his new job. Dorian smiled widely when he was asked.

"Well," he began, picking lightly around the green patch on his arm. "I'm probably not supposed to be the one to give you the details..."

John gave Dorian a look that said 'Since when did you start following the rules?' Dorian chuckled.

"Ahh, I've missed you're good-natured scowls."

John rolled his eyes. "Stop with the suspense and get on with it."

Dorian's eyes zipped around the cafe, seeing if anyone was within hearing distance. It seemed they were in the clear, but all the same, Dorian leaned in close and brought his voice down to a whisper.

"So this organization I'm working for, Starfleet, it's all about keeping peace across the galaxy and stuff, right?"

John sipped his coffee and nodded.

"Well, there's a lead that a sleeper agent has been planted somewhere inside the place, but the problem is- who? Is it a recruit? An officer? What's their mission? Who sent them?" Dorian raised his eyebrows a little for dramatic effect.

"So what, you're supposed to just wander around till something happens?" John asked, blowing on his coffee.

"Well we are trying to get to the sleeper agent before anything happens, but essentially yes."

John stared at the light steam rising from his drink. Dorian tilted his head to the side.

"What's bothering you?"

John shrugged noncomittedly and took another drink.

Dorian pressed him.

"You aren't gonna give me this silence. The only thing I've had from you in decades is silence. I deserve more than that."

John looked up at Dorian's firm eyes. John made an indignant noise. "Stop it with the soap opera crap, I can't take it."

Dorian's gaze didn't waver. John sighed and swirled his coffee lazily in the cup.

"It's just... it's gonna take a while to get used to-" He gestured around them, "-all of this." John took a last drink before standing. "You ready to go? I've got a lot of catching up to do."

Dorian's eyes narrowed slightly, but he stood up and let the matter go.

* * *

"This is bullshit!" John huffed, looking again at his briefing notes.

Dorian rolled his eyes as their car hit a stoplight. "It's not that bad, John. You're being a drama queen."

"A drama queen? I have to go to school like a god damned child, Dorian! And what kind of name is Leonard McCoy anyways?" He let out an exasperated noise and shook his head. "It's not fair. You got to keep your name  _and_  be a teacher."

"Maybe because I'm not whiny." Dorian switched into John's voice. "Life is _so_  unfair. Maybe complaining about it for a solid half an hour will make it all better."

John tried to scowl at him, but found himself smiling instead. God, it felt good to be back with Dorian.

* * *

He wasn't sure what to expect to see at Dorian's apartment. When he stepped in, he was surprised to find it to look... well, ordinary. It looked cozy and lived in. Dorian shook off his coat and tossed it over a nearby chair.

"Make yourself at home."

John walked further into the room. "Not too bad." He flopped down on the couch and flung his arms onto the back of it. "I could get used to this."

"Well don't get  _too_  used to it, you'll be getting a dorm room tomorrow."

John groaned. "Like a god damned  _kid_ , Dorian."

Dorian laughed, but soon became somber. After a few moments, he furtively looked at John.

"I really need to start charging. What time do you want to get up?"

"As late as possible."

The side of Dorian's face lit up with blue lights chasing the tail of the others in front of them before fading into his skin. He offered John a goodnight before heading to his room. He stopped at the doorway, though, and looked back at John.

"There's something I made for you. I thought you might appreciate it. The file's labeled 'John'."

And with that, Dorian shut his door.

John forced himself to wait five minutes before pulling up the holo-screen. When he brought up the file, he found that it was a video. He lowered the volume before starting it. He was shocked when Captain Maldonado came into view.

She was much older, her hair fully grey but still swept back in the same tasteful way. Her face was sagging with age, but she still retained the same grace and control she had had when he last saw her. Her gaze was steady as she addressed him.

"John. I'm hoping you and I get to talk face to face again. The team's been looking for the cure nonstop. But Dorian wanted to make this for you, just in case it took us a little longer than expected." Her gaze softened. "As much as I don't want to admit it, I miss your infuriating swagger and your snarky comebacks. The office is dull without you. More orderly, certainly." A slight smile came to her lips. "But dull."

The screen went black.

John tried to swallow, but had difficulty doing so.

The screen lit back up, this time with a different face. Rudy's hair was longer, but the top of his head was completely bald. His face was covered in tender pink scar tissue. Flat silver panels laid over his eye sockets. Two lenses peered at him, the mechanisms contracting and growing as Rudy stared at him.

"Hey, John." He said with his signature crooked smile. "I know, I'm quite the looker right now. Bad lab accident, you see. I had been experimenting with this new chemical who's properties at the time weren't known. It was actually rather brilliant-"

Dorians voice came from offscreen.

"Rudy, let's not bore him back into a coma."

Rudy cleared his throat and his lenses seemed to sharpen and focus on the screen.

"Right, sorry. So John, if you're watching this, that means you've outlived me. Rather grim, if you think about it. I mean, what advice is a dead man supposed to give you? You're alive and I'm not, so that gives you the one-up, if you ask me."

Dorian's voice cut in again.

"It's just a thank you video."

"Right, right, sorry. John, thanks for everything you did. I don't know if you ever realized how much your visits meant to me. Most days I couldn't wait for you and Dorian to come and pop by." Rudy gave a small laugh. "It was nice, having a rough-and-tumble cop friend. I mean, I know I'm not exactly people's first choice when it comes to a lot of things. But you made me feel like, for once in my life, I wasn't the bottom of the barrel." Rudy cleared his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was unsteady. "So, um, thanks. For everything. Cheers, mate."

Rudy's gave another crooked smile before the screen went dark again.

John scrubbed the side of his face. He found himself blinking a lot more than what was necessary. He knew what was coming. Who would be on that screen soon. He wasn't sure how to feel about it.

Sure enough, the screen came back to life and a set dark eyes were staring at him. He breath caught in his throat.

"Hi John."

A warm smile lit her features and he felt a shiver run up his spine. Valerie brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Let's hope you never have to watch this. This is a 'just in case' kind of thing. Everyone's working hard to get you back. Dorian's been driving me up the wall." She shot a playful smile to someone offscreen before looking back at John.

"When he told me about his idea to make this, I'll admit I was against it. Making a video to say goodbye seemed like... well, it seemed like admitting defeat. But Dorian talked me around. So now, instead of being the last one to support this, I'm actually the first one to record a message. I insisted that you didn't see me when I'm old and withered." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

After a few moments she sighed."There's so much that needs saying. How much you mean to everyone. The differences you make, the people who's lives you've touched." her smile faltered. "There's also a lot that doesn't need saying. Because I think you already know." She looked deeply at him, as if she could actually see him there on the couch. "We all miss you so much, John. I know you'll come back to us. I know it."

And the screen cut to blackness for the last time. John sat in the darkness for a long time.

When he did finally stir, it was to get up. He went to Dorian's door and opened it. He wasn't surprised to see that Dorian wasn't charging. He was standing by the window, looking out onto the street. He turned when he heard John enter. Before Dorian could make a remark on how rude it was to barge into someones room, or comment on how puffy and red John's face was, John crossed the small room in a few strides and wrapped Dorian in a strong hug.

At that moment, John was happy that he could squeeze as hard as he needed.


	3. Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John meets some new faces

He felt like he was going to vomit. This was ridiculous. First, he's dropped off in the middle of fucking nowhere, and now he was about to fly around in a damned metal deathtrap. Just the thought made his head spin and his stomach clench. When a curt knock came from the other side of the bathroom door yet again, he swallowed the bile rising in his throat and unlocked the door. The woman standing in front of him looked annoyed as she ushered him out of the bathroom. He bickered with her pointlessly until she finally told him that if he didn't sit down, she would  _make_  him. He shot her an annoyed look before plopping down in his seat, quickly buckling. His stomach felt uneasy and his mouth was sour. He needed something to distract him. He looked to the young blonde man who was buckled in beside him. Remembering his alias, he made sure to use a bit of a southern drawl when he leaned forward slightly to say, "I may throw up on you." Maybe not the best way to approach a conversation, but it seemed to get the young man's attention.

As they chatted, John could feel the knot in his stomach loosen. The distraction of keeping his accent and weaving his backstory that had been provided to him into the conversation had a soothing effect. That was, until everything around them seemed to come alive with a low vibrating and a deep humming noise. John's back immediately went stiff and his nails dug into his palms. The kid (Jim, he had said his name was Jim) casually noticed John's demeanor. John saw Jim looking at him, and tried to smile to show he was okay, but by the slightly alarmed look on Jim's face, he figured his smile looked more like a grimace. John looked away and closed his eyes. He began counting down from a thousand, but every slight churn or jerk of the ship sent his mind into a muddled frenzy and he would lose his place.

"I once singlehandedly defeated a gorn while unarmed."

John kept his eyes closed but welcomed the conversation. He had no idea what a gorn was, but it sure did sound impressive. "Really? How'd you manage that?"

"I gave it a handjob."

John couldn't help but open his eyes and look at Jim. "You what?"

His blue eyes sparkled and he shrugged. "Well I mean I didn't do it on purpose."

"How do you manage to accidentally give someone a handjob?"

Jim chuckled "Well, I had gotten in a bit of trouble and had been thrown into this pretty rough correctional facility, right? Well usually they keep the more violent species in separate cells, but I guess I was a little too much to handle, so the authorities figured to try to knock me down a peg or two."

So this Jim kid was evidently a trouble maker. For some reason, that fact made John like him even more.

Jim continued: "So you know what a gorn looks like, of course. But this one, he must have been an alpha or something. He was a good foot taller than me, and his scales were missing in places, like he's been in a fight or two, you know?" John didn't know, but he nodded. "Right, so as soon as the cell door shuts, the gorn's on his feet. I automatically go into defense mode, even though I know it's no use. I mean, this guys' claws are at least four inches long. But I'm not going down without a fight. So the gorn starts walking towards me, and he's taking his dear sweet time. And he's making this low, deep guttural noise." Jim attempted to mimic the noise, earning a few confused looks. John stifled a laugh. "But right when the thing is a foot from me, he sticks out his hand, palm up. I don't know what the hell he wants me to do with it, because he's just standing there rumbling, staring at me with those big lizard eyes. So I just take a shot in the dark and put my hand on his. And the next thing I know, my wrist is being poked and prodded by something wet and hot. Bit like a tongue, actually."

John looked at him unbelievingly. "So the thing was, what, licking you through it's wrist?"

"Well, that's what I thought at first. But after a few more slippery pokes, it filled my hand with this slimy shit that smelled like fish guts."

John's eyes widened as he realized. "So the thing in his wrist was-"

"Yep."

John started laughing. "Oh my god, that's terrible!"

Jim shrugged and smiled. "Hey, you see it as terrible, I see it as a reassurance that pretty much every species can't get enough of Jim Kirk. Isn't that right, Uhura?"

Jim raised his voice at that last part, shooting a look at a young woman a few seats down. She rolled her eyes and refused to make eye contact, though the corner of her mouth rose slightly. Jim chuckled and looked back at John. "I have something else really cool to tell you."

John raised his eyebrow expectantly.

Jim leaned in and whispered, "We're about to land."

* * *

When John finally caved in and asked for directions to his dorm, it took him less than 15 minutes to get to his room. He cursed himself for being so stubborn in the first place, because now the sun was already beginning it's descent in the sky and he wouldn't be able to meet up with Dorian.

And when he opened the door to room D277, he was irritated to see that not only did he have a roommate, but the roommate had already made a damned mess of the place. A duffel bag was on the desk, with it's contents laying beside it. A pair of worn tennis shoes lay in the middle of the floor, along with jeans and a t-shirt. It looked as if someone had just zapped out of existence, leaving only their clothes. John could hear water from behind a closed door to the right.

Trying hard to not be a grumpy old man, he paced the room a few times before sitting on the bed that didn't have a pack of gum and yellow headphones on it. The water turned off. John quickly laid back on his bed, crossing his arms behind his head. After a few seconds he shook his head and positioned himself on his side, propping his head up with one arm. It took him a few seconds to realize it looked like he was trying to seduce the damned guy. He shot up quickly from the bed, pacing the room again.

The doorknob turned and John panicked, making his way quickly to the desk. Right as the door opened, John picked up an a glass orb and began examining it thoughtfully. A surprised yelp made him almost drop it.

He quickly faced the man, seeing what the noise was about. He realized his roommate really wasn't a man, but a boy. He was clutching a white cotton towel around his waist, his eyes comically wide below damp curls. The boy slammed the door, disappearing almost as quickly as he had appeared. John set the orb down and plopped down onto his bed. Well, that could have went better.

He sighed and waited until his roommate emerged from the bathroom with a blue robe cinched tightly at the waist. The boy blushed. "I'm wery sorry about zat."

John was surprised by the thick russian accent. The boy seemed to notice the mess he had left and quickly picked up his clothes and shoes from the floor. "I zought I had lucked out and had my own room." His eyes widened before quickly adding "Not zat I don't want you as a roommate-"

John raised his hand, signalling that he knew what he meant. "No worries, kid." John stretched out on his bed. "Just try to keep it quiet, I'm bone-tired."

John closed his eyes and realized that he wasn't lying. The adrenaline of the flight over, the walking around campus, it really had drained him. Before he knew it, he had drifted off.


End file.
